Sell Your Soul

8. Confessions

Hannah had decided that now was not the best time to tell Johnny - or anyone about the strange letter. He was too upset about Danny getting hurt. He was blaming himself big time, and going out of his way to keep Andrea from finding out that their retaliation against Huntington Beach had anything to do with Danny’s injury.

He was expected to make a full recovery he had multiple broken ribs and his leg was broken in two places. When he came home he would be in a wheel chair at first and then he would be on crutches.

At first Johnny was adamant about Danny staying at his house. But Andrea insists that her house would be more wheel chair accessible, and didn’t have any stairs. She wasn’t having any luck finding a new job anyway so she and Hannah could spend a lot of time taking care of Danny. Reluctantly Johnny agreed.

“You know he’s gonna figure it out.” Hannah said as she put away her clothes.
Andre was stretched out across Hannah’s bed looking through a magazine.

“What?”

“Johnny is gonna figure out that you’re in love with Danny, and it’s obvious that Danny’s been in love with you for years.” Hannah turned around to look at her best friend.

“I’m not in love with Danny.” Andrea said automatically. She had never been good at admitting her feelings. Her brother was the one who was in touch with his feelings, she wasn’t. Her inability to express her feelings was the reason she was still nursing her broken heart. Green eyes flashed in her mind. But she shook them away.

“You know, I honestly think your brother would take it better if you just told him. He’s gonna be even more upset if you try to hide it from him.” Hannah said and then felt a pang of guilt. She needed to take her own advice.

“Honestly Han, I don’t even know if I am ready to tell myself I’m in love with Danny – let alone tell my brother.” Andrea admitted.

“I understand.” Hannah smiled. And she did. She felt the exact same way about her past and the creepy letter. She almost told Andrea, but stopped herself. She had enough on her mind without worrying about more problems.

“Thanks, for coming back with me. I know it was probably hard to leave you and Johnny’s love nest.” Andrea spoke up.

“No problem. That’s what friends are for. Besides I think that Johnny was more than ready to have his bed all to himself again.” Hannah smiled.

“I doubt that. I’m sure he loved having you in his bed every night.” Andrea laughed.
Hannah blushed when she realized that Andrea was insinuating that she had been doing more than sleeping with Johnny.

“Wait! You guys haven’t done it yet have you!?” Andrea was shocked. She knew her brother was in love with Hannah, but she couldn’t believe that there had been a girl in his bed and he hadn’t gotten her naked. Johnny was a smooth talker. He had talked many of Andrea’s friends out of their clothes when they were growing up. No one could turn down his baby blues.

“No.” Hannah’s face was blood red.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed about. I’m just surprised is all.”

Hannah looked at Andrea for a minute. There were so many things she wanted to ask her about Johnny’s past with girls. But she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate.

“Has… has Johnny been with a lot of girls?” She blurted out quickly.
“Not a lot. He doesn’t sleep with just any girl. But he’s been with a few. That I know of anyway. He and I don’t usually discuss our sex lives. But I do know he loves you Hannah.”

“I love him too.” Hannah smiled.

**

Andrea had been pacing all morning waiting for Charlie and Funny to pick up Danny from the hospital and drop him off. Johnny and Kurlz were out on business. With Danny out Johnny was picking up his jobs and keeping the streets clean.

“Special delivery!” Charlie said wheeling Danny in the door.

“We also brought your mail.” Funny said walking in behind him. He handed a stack to Andrea and then walked in the kitchen and handed an envelope to Hannah.

“This is yours.”

“Thanks.” Hannah tried to keep her face expressionless. She never got mail.

“Want a cookie?” She asked with a forced smile.

“Oh sweet thanks!” Funny grabbed a handful before walking back towards the living room. Hannah crammed the envelope into her pocket, then took a deep breath, picked up the plate of cookies and walked into the living room.

Charlie and Funny stayed long enough to finish off the cookies. Once they left Hannah excused herself to her room to give Andrea and Danny some privacy. She closed her door and took a deep breath. A beeping noise startled her. She had forgotten about the cellphone Johnny had insisted she keep with her all the time. She opened it, there was a text from Johnny.

“Love you bby doll. This is taking longer than we thought. Call ya when we’re home.” She smiled and texted him back slowly. She wasn’t great at this yet.

Her hands were shaking as she pulled the envelope out of her pocket. It was addressed to Hannah Faith and had the address of Andrea’s house neatly printed on it, with no return address.

She ripped it open. The page inside read:

“Ye who wanders from the flock leads the wolves to the den.
A family broken is vulnerable to Satan. Every one shalt suffer from the actions of another. ”

She felt her heart hit the floor. It was referring to her parents. Who were no doubt hurting and shamed because she had ran away. But she took another deep breath and tossed the page in the trash. They were the ones who had chosen The Faith. Not her.

**

The next few weeks were fairly uneventful. Hannah didn’t get to see much of Johnny because he was working his ass off trying to do his job and Danny’s. Shortly after Danny moved in Andrea got a call about a new job at the Cinema 6. Hannah and Danny spent a lot of time together. They had played every board game in the house and then some.

Danny had finally gotten out of the wheelchair and onto crutches. Which left them with more options for entertainment, he couldn’t walk very far but everyday they walked around the block, or down to the park to feed the ducks. There hadn’t been a sign of trouble from HB or anything from Father Brinks.

Hannah was fixing lunch when Danny hobbled in with the mail.

“This is for you.” He said holding up a white envelope

Hannah dropped the plate she was holding. It shattered when it hit the ground.

“Shit!” She bent down trying to clean it up and sliced her hand open.

“Are you okay!?” Danny asked her.

“I’m fine, just go in the living room and I’ll clean this up and bring you another plate.” She said quickly wrapping her hand in a towel and grabbing the broom to sweep up the glass.

Danny looked at her for a minute, stuck the envelope in his pocket and made his way back into the living room.

Hannah bandaged her hand and returned to the kitchen. She was going to throw the letter away but it was nowhere to be found. So she grabbed two plates and made her way too the living room.

“Here you go, do you need anything else?” She asked throwing on her best fake smile.

“Just for you to sit down and explain this.” Danny said holding up the envelope.

Hannah took a deep breath and sat down. He had opened it and read it.

“What does it say?” her voice was quivering. Danny handed it to her.

With shaking hands she opened up the letter.

It was a wedding invitation reading:

You are cordially invited to the ceremonial exchanging of the rings between one Father Rod Brinks and one Hannah Madison Faith on the third Sabbath.
On the back in the same neat print from all the other letters read

“Marriage is the holiest of vows. A woman cannot deny a man the right to what he wants. She must do so willingly and with much honor – lest she bring shame upon her family and herself. A woman who refuses the ring ceremony or breaks of her body beforehand shalt be shunned and ne’er allowed to marry.”

Hannah felt the hot tears running down her face. She took a deep breath and started talking.

“I ran away from home because my parents were part of a religious cult, Father Brinks was the leader who convinced them to join when I was just a kid. He decided a few years ago that he wanted me to be his bride, and I didn’t want to be forced to marry him. So I ran off.

“He’s trying to scare me into coming home. If I don’t show up for my wedding I’ll never get to see my family again. But I don’t care. They’re brainwashed and I never want to go back there. Johnny – Johnny doesn’t know this. No one does. All he and Andrea know is that my parents were part of a cult and I ran away because I was sick of it.”

The look in Hannah’s eyes when she was talking about this guy told Danny there was more to the story she wasn’t telling him, and he could guess exactly why she didn’t want to tell Johnny about it.
“I won’t say anything – because your keeping my and Andrea’s secret. But I really do think you should tell Johnny about this, and these letters. How did this guy get this address?”

“I have no idea how he found me.” Hannah admitted.

“Well, I think if we just ignore him then he’ll go away. And Han, you know you can talk to me about anything right?” Danny added with a smile.

“Thanks Danny.”

**

One week later

Johnny felt like he hadn’t seen his girlfriend or his sister in ages, so he took the day off. He put Charlie in charge and headed to the beach with Danny, Andrea and Hannah.

The four of them found a secluded spot away from the crowds and they planned to spend their entire day with a cooler of beer and soda for Hannah. They set up a chair and umbrella for Danny, while Andrea stretched out on a towel to catch some sun in her bikini. Johnny and Hannah were walking hand in hand at the very edge of the water.

“I miss having you at the house.” Johnny admitted. It was the truth, without Hannah his house was lonely. Sure he was spending more time working than usual but it still sucked coming home to an empty house.

“I miss being there. I – I don’t sleep well without you.” Hannah smiled but kept her eyes on the ground. It was easy to keep her secrets from Johnny until she was face to face with him.

“Hopefully Danny will be healed up soon and you can maybe come back, for good.” Johnny suggested.

“I’d like that.” Hannah would give anything to be back at Johnny’s. She felt safe there. She really needed to feel safe again.

They were walking back towards Danny and Andrea when Johnny stopped.

“Oh fuck.”

“What?” Hannah asked looking around.

“They’re here.”